Competition and Prices in the Deregulated Gas Pipeline Network: A Multivariate Cointegration Analysis

This research uses multivariate cointegration analysis to assess the degree of competition in the U.S. natural gas industry following the move to open access pipeline transportation. The testing methodology allows multiple nodes in the pipeline network to be analyzed simultaneously and is based on recent advances by Johansen (1988, 1991) and Johansen and Juselius (1990) on estimation and hypothesis testing in multivariate cointegrated systems. Daily price data across the North American natural gas transmission grid are analyzed and the results indicate that the pattern of prices between production areas is consistent with allocative efficiency.